A 2,000-year old textile containing a mysterious blue dye described in the Bible has been uncovered in Israel.

The cloth, which displays one of the few remnants of the ancient colour ever found, was dyed using a snail known as the Murex trunculus.

The gland of this sea-snail secretes a yellow fluid that, when exposed to sunlight, turns purple-blue and can be used to dye cloth.

A 2,000-year old textile that contains a mysterious blue dye described in the Bible, has been uncovered in Israel. Researchers and rabbis have long searched for the enigmatic colour, called tekhelet in Hebrew

Naama Sukenik, of Israel's Antiquities Authority, made the discovery after a recent examination of a small woollen textile found in the 1950s.

Researchers and rabbis have long searched for the enigmatic colour, called tekhelet in Hebrew. The Bible commands Jews to wear a blue fringe on their garments.

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In the Books of Chronices, for instance, the veil of Solomon's Temple is made of blue. However, the biblical dye was lost in antiquity.

Since then, thousands of fabrics dating to the Roman period have been discovered in the Judean Desert, but up until now only two have been found with dyes extracted from the murex snail.

As well as the blue cloth, Dr Sukenik found two purple fabrics that might have been used as clothing in the Roman period

The discovery was made in the Wadi Murabba'at caves located south of Qumran

THE BIBLICAL BLUE DYE: TEKHELET

Researchers and rabbis have long searched for the enigmatic colour, called tekhelet (pronounced t-CHELL-et).

Teklelet, meaning 'turquoise' or 'blue' in Hebrew, was used in the clothing of the High Priest. However, the dye was lost in antiquity.

One of the mysteries that scholars have puzzled over for centuries is the exact shade of blue represented by tekhelet.

Traditional interpretations have characterised tekhelet as a pure blue, symbolic of the heavens.

The discovery of an ancient fabric displays one of the few remnants of the ancient colour ever found.

The cloth was dyed using a snail known as the Murex trunculus. Its gland secretes a yellow fluid that, when exposed to sunlight, turns purple-blue.

As well as the blue cloth, Dr Sukenik found two purple fabrics that might have been used as clothing in the Roman period.

The discovery was made in the Wadi Murabba‘at caves located south of Qumran, in the West Bank, and involved the analysis of the dye in 180 textiles.

Researchers believe the fabrics may have
been part of the property belonging to Jewish refugees from the time of
the Bar-Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire of 132-135 AD.

Tests on the structure of the cloths revealed that the two purple textiles may have been imported, while the blue cloth was created in the same fashion as the local fabrics.

Of all of the dyes that were in use, purple was considered the most prestigious colour of the Hellenistic-Roman period.

There were times when the masses were forbidden from dressing in purple clothing, which was reserved for only the emperor and his family.

These measures only served to increase the popularity of that colour, the price of which soared to equal that of gold.

The cloth, which is one of the few remnants of the ancient colour ever found, was dyed using a snail known as the Murex trunculus, pictured.The gland of the sea-snail Murex trunculus secretes a yellow fluid that, when exposed to sunlight, turns purple-blue

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Sacred blue dye tekhelet seen only twice since Jesus is discovered on Israeli cloth